Happier trails

Potato Creek making improvements.

Potato Creek making improvements.

September 13, 2006|ADRIENNE RUFFNER Tribune Staff Writer

NORTH LIBERTY -- Sections of Potato Creek State Park will have a new look this fall. For the remainder of September, the park will reroute two of its horse-riding trails to avoid flooding problems and to restore natural habitat to some areas. "It's a twofold improvement," said Jim Webb, Potato Creek property manager. "We want to improve the riding trails to make them more aesthetic ... and part of our mission is to restore areas to their pre-settlement conditions." The new trail sections will wind through mature forests and open hills. The two trails to be rerouted originally were built in the mid-1980s and needed to be updated, Webb said. Riders and horses still must stay on the pathways, but the park will fix large holes caused by failed drainage tiles that plague horses who wander from the paths. The project will take about three weeks to complete but should not pose an inconvenience to park visitors. "Sections of these trails will be closed, but riders can use other ones in the meantime," Webb said. "Each year we're doing a lot of trail maintenance." In addition to the trail changes, the park will restore wet prairies that existed in the area before settlers arrived. To do this, the park has hired contractors to remove drainage systems built by past landowners. The new wetlands should bolster the park's wildlife population. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funded the project.